‘Dexter’ Season 8 Trailer Spoilers: Will Dexter Die In The Final Season? [VIDEO]

"Dexter" season 8 spoilers and speculation are filtering out with greater frequency now that Showtime has released a new trailer introducing a major character set to shake up the show. Season 8, the show's final season, is set to premiere Sunday June 30at 9 PM.

*Warning Season 8 Spoilers Ahead*

The new season 8 character introduced in the trailer is Dr. Evelyn Vogel (Charlotte Ramplin), a neuropsychiatric doctor and author of a number of books on psychopaths. The trailer hints that she has a past with Dexter, and she is seen offering him a manila folder full of a child's drawings. Was she a childhood therapist from his past? It becomes increasingly clear that Dexter's mask is starting to slip.

It's not just his mask that gives us cause to speculate about if Dexter lives or dies. Dr. Vogol offers us some disturbing quotes that make us think that she is going to pick up on Dexter really fast. "Psychopaths are not a mistake of nature. They are a gift. They helped the human race survive long enough to become civilized," she goes on to say "Without psychopaths, mankind wouldn't exist today." Finally to round up the creepy quotes she quips, "Serial killers don't have enemies. Everyone's a potential victim."

Huge Season 8 Spoiler: "Not only does she know a bit about serial killers, but she also knows a thing or two about Dexter and his code, as she was involved in developing it along with Harry. " Keeping that in mind, we can understand why she's shown up at Miami Homicide. Perhaps she fears Dexter is going off the code. Maybe she wants to keep an eye on him and has decided the time has come to bring the project to an end. That seems particularly likely since Charlotte Ramplin says that fans will be "bereaved" by the season's end and that her presence will "change everything". It seems to us that the producers are clearly setting things up for the death of Dexter.

Credit: Showtime

Season 8 spoilers that fans are eager to find out about is the fundamental question of "Does Dexter die?" Showrunner Scott Buck offered several tantalizing hints, strongly indicating that Dexter will die or lose everything: (Emphasis added in bold)

"Dexter is a character who has evolved so much over the years that's he's almost unrecognizable to who he was in the beginning when he was in the brain of a psychopath. We've gradually seen him evolve and become more human," Buck explained. "As that's happened, the show itself has become more real because we're seeing it through Dexter's eyes."

"The trick of the show is that he's a likable serial killer," he continued. "But we don't ever want our audience to forget that he is a serial killer and I think we take him on that final journey this season. This is the person you've been loving all these years, but this is ultimately what happens with a serial killer," the showrunner told Entertainment Weekly.

"I think ideally it will make our audience sit back and see Dexter a little more clearly than before. People love him for what he does, there's a lot of wish fulfillment, I think [the ending] will help you see him more of as an actual person. It feels like the exact ending we should be doing. It will be pretty clear and understandable and should absolutely make sense to everybody watching it," he said.

The showrunner does bring up an interesting point about season 8. There really is only one way for a serial killers story to end, with his death, imprisonment or downfall. Even moral serial killers with a "code" aren't allowed to have a happy ending. Dexter is shown convincingly over the course of the show to have an addiction to killing, his "Dark Passenger" which he cannot shake even if he tries. He has already seen how an elderly serial killer dies old, miserable and alone. It's not a fate he wants for himself and he is certainly concerned about his influence on his son, Harrison.

Michael C. Hall, the actor who plays Dexter, joked with Jimmy Kimmel about Dexter dying in season 8, suggesting that he is reconciled to the possibility:

In terms of season 8 spoilers, we should also consider who will be the agent of Dexter's demise. While it could be his nemesis, the "Brain Surgeon" who cuts apart his victims skulls, that seems unlikely. Dexter has never really lost to any of his targets aside from Trinity, who managed to kill Rita. Fans would be unsatisfied with an ending that saw Dexter outwitted and outmaneuvered by a more able serial killer. The more likely outcome is that it will be Debra herself who will kill him. We see how conflicted she is in the trailers, she openly says that she shot the wrong person in the shipyard, implying that it should have been him, not LaGuerta:

Huge Season 8 Spoiler: "Season 8 will see Deb no longer sporting a badge, and instead, earning a living working for a private detective played by Sean Patrick Flanery. Catch a glimpse of him here." A Debra who has left the force because she is unable to cope with the ways she's come to resemble Dexter makes it likely that their paths have parted but will cross again violently. Debra is ultimately a moral person, unable to keep secrets and lies the way Dexter can. She loves him, but her love is fading and she does not want to become like him.

Credit: Showtime

That is why we think that season 8 will end with Dexter being killed by Debra, possibly with the help of Dr. Vogol, after Dexter kills the "Brain Surgeon." It is the only ending that would satisfy the complex feelings fans have about Dexter. Even though we root for him, he is still a bad guy and has killed some people who, while not innocent, did not necessarily deserve death. There has to be a comeuppance for that. The clash between Dr.Vogol,Dexter and Debra promises to be more interesting than the clash against the "Brain Surgeon".

What do you think of these season 8 spoilers? Will Dexter die at Debra's hand?